Health impact modelling of transport in lower and middle income cities

The majority of city dwellers are in lower and middle countries. These cities vary massively in their levels of air and noise pollution, walking and cycling, and traffic injury risk. However, the vast majority of impact modelling studies of transport have been in higher income cities. The Public Health Modelling programme and our collaborators are leading the way in developing impact models for lower and middle income cities. This PhD will be an opportunity to improve existing and develop new health impact simulation models for a lower or middle income country or region. Applications are welcome for any region, either building on our existing work in Latin America, India, and sub-Saharan Africa or in another world region. We are most interested in applications to work across multiple cities rather than in one or two cities. Lack of traditional data (such as from travel surveys) is a major limitation in many settings and we welcome applications interested in working with new and emerging big data (e.g. satellite or Google Street View) and modelled estimates.

What is covered

A studentship will be sufficient to cover living costs, research expenses, and fees at the EEA level. Prospective students should check what rate applies to them https://www.graduate.study.cam.ac.uk/finance/fees/what-my-fee-status. Prospective students not eligible for the lower rate are strongly advised to apply for additional sources of funding http://www.mrc-epid.cam.ac.uk/work-and-study/studentships/student-finance/. We are very keen to get the best students regardless of nationality or residency status.

What to do next

You can find out more about the MRC Epidemiology Unit at http://www.mrc-epid.cam.ac.uk/work-and-study/studentships/. Prospective students with suitably strong CVs and a demonstrable interest in the topics should approach Dr Woodcock [Email Address Removed] to discuss their application.

To apply, please visit the University’s Graduate Admissions Portal http://www.graduate.study.cam.ac.uk/how-do-i-apply. You should upload a full CV, two academic references, and a covering letter detailing: i) whether you are eligible for MRC full or partial funding, ii) whether you are applying to other funding sources, and iii) an outline of your research interests and how these align with those of the MRC Epidemiology Unit, or which of the highlighted projects you are interested in and why. Applications missing any of these components will not be considered.

Please ensure you indicate that you wish to be considered for GLASST funding in the Funding section of the online application form.

The closing date for applications will be Tuesday 7 January 2020.

This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No 817754)